Alabama

No easy answers, but there are three imperatives as Alabama eyes prison reform in 2015

On Jan. 17, 2014, Alabama received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice detailing heinous conditions at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women -- staff-on-inmate rape, strip shows run by guards, voyeurism of the type that would have sent someone to jail had it occurred outside prison walls.

Since that time, we've taken a hard look at Alabama's prison system and found that the problems at Tutwiler were not isolated. Indeed, the system as a whole is deeply flawed.

We've also spent the year talking to people about Alabama prisons -- conditions inside, why they're overcrowded, and what Alabama needs to do to make the system better.

Obviously, there are no easy answers; a quick fix is impossible. Yet the 300-plus stories published on AL.com and the voices of thousands of people across the state did reveal three imperatives as we enter 2015:

Prison systems officials must clean up their act and fix the basics -- living conditions, violence and sexual abuses and adequate healthcare.

Legislators and state leaders must be accountable, because in the justice system you get what you pay for.

All of us must take the long view and get to the root of the problems that send people to prison or make any prison stay a life sentence because of what happens afterward.

What follows is a look at some of the reporting, some of the data, and some of the voices we've heard during 2014.

Clean up your act by fixing the basics

Overview: A "ticking time bomb." That's the label that U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson attached to Alabama's Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women before he approved a settlement in 2004 that called for less-crowded, better-ventilated living spaces there. A decade later, a new lawsuit from the Southern Poverty Law Center says that the state has failed to meet its constitutional responsibilities to provide adequate health care to prisoners. Gov. Robert Bentley said he is as interested as anyone in solving problems that include overcrowding and allegations of mistreatment of inmates but added that lawsuits only divert time and money away from those solutions. "You all are crazy to sue us," he said. "What good does it do to sue us?"

Inmates in a dormitory at Julia Tutwiler Prison Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013, in Elmore County near Wetumpka, Ala. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com)

No prisoner can be housed in an "unfit" or "unhealthy" cell or compartment. But, by law, it's entirely up to the Alabama Department of Corrections to decide how its facilities measure up. At one point during Marsha Colby's four-year stint (2008-2012) at Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women, 72 women shared just two working toilets. "The food has worms in it, and the boxes say 'Not for human consumption,' said Stephanie Hibbett, who served just more than a year at Tutwiler (2010-2011). Prison officials and inmates don't agree on much but they almost universally say that many of the prison's issues result from severe overcrowding. Last year, half a dozen women in one Tutwiler ward collaborated to draft a letter to several legislators who closely monitor the state's prison system. "We are at 90% over capacity," the letter says. "We are crammed in here like sardines. We have no activities, no programs, no real incentives. It's a hostile environment that seems to get worse by the day."

Alabama law doesn't say much about prisoner health care standards. But under federal law, medical care, at minimum, must not be so poor that it rises to the level of cruel and unusual punishment, which is barred by the Eighth Amendment. After being told the Alabama Legislature wanted costs cut by 10 percent, the Department of Corrections budgeted $90.1 million to provide medical and mental health care for fiscal 2013, according to DOC budget figures. The state budgeted $76.3 million for private health care provider Corizon for fiscal year 2013, down from $85.9 million the previous year, despite no drop in the prison population.

Prisoner health care is about a quarter of the DOC's daily inmate cost. Did the cuts lead to inadequate health care? Proving such a thing is difficult, Alabama attorneys say, given the state's grant of immunity to state employees and the challenge of proving an intentional civil rights violation against an inmate.

A report by Montgomery-based prison reform group Equal Justice Initiative claims that correctional officers at two Alabama prisons forced male inmates to perform sex acts and threatened to bring them up on disciplinary charges if they refused. The EJI claims it discovered nearly a dozen instances where inmates at Elmore Correctional Facility were handcuffed, stripped naked, and then beaten by officers. At Donaldson and Bibb Correctional Facilities, male guards forced young male inmates to perform sex acts, the report claims. Among other allegations, the report states that Elmore Warden Leeposey Daniels paraded a severely injured man in front of other inmates and announced that the beating was intended as a warning.

What Laurie Parker saw while working in the infirmary of Alabama's Tutwiler Prison for Women made her sick, she said. Nondiabetic inmates injected with insulin. Ailing inmates turned away from basic care. A shortage of medicine and hospital equipment. Rank incompetence. "There is some point where you say, 'I can't do this,'" said Parker, a nurse practitioner at the prison for four years before quitting in 2013. A June lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center alleges that health care provided to Alabama's inmates is inadequate and unconstitutional. An ADOC spokeswoman said the level of care is getting better. "Anyone familiar with the history of medical services provided in Alabama's prisons knows how far we have come," the statement said, also pledging that the department would defend the level of care in court. Still, just months earlier, state officials confirmed that they were dealing with the worst prison tuberculosis outbreak in five years.

Data:

-- The average age of inmates in Alabama (men and women) is 38, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections annual report for 2012.

-- The state's prison population is rapidly aging. Over the last 40 years, the system has seen a 3,188 percent growth in inmates 50 and older.

-- At the close of 2013, the Alabama Department of Corrections had jurisdiction of 32,467 people -- 21,250 in prisons, 4,090 in work centers/work release, 998 in contract facilities, 2,233 in county jails and 3,269 in community corrections.

-- Alabama's prisons are operating at 190 percent of designed capacity.

Alabama voices:

-- Solving the myriad of problems within our state prisons is a complex challenge, and many issues will require significant time, planning, and money. But other issues can - and should - be addressed immediately. In particular, those who commit acts of violence against prisoners must be held accountable for their actions, and there is no excuse for not bringing them to justice. Most significantly, incarceration should not deprive a person of his or her fundamental right to be treated as a human being, or to have their inherent dignity taken from them. -- Wayne Verry, Foley

-- I have a son in the ADOC and it is destroying him! They sit all day with NOTHING to do but read (if you can get a book to them). They are faced with abusive guards (there are some good ones), they are in constant fear of attack by another inmate or guard. The food is horrible ... dried milk, meat marked not for human consumption. That is just the tip of the iceberg. Anyone who has someone inside is appalled at the conditions. -- Dawn Johnson, Birmingham

-- We must protect our citizens from violent criminals, thieves, and robbers. Build more prisons and expand others. Do not be more lenient. -- Steve Neugent, Muscle Shoals

-- The current system is trapped by "thinking inside the box." It fails at problem identification and solving. Increasing capacity will give the current system a free pass to continue in its dysfunction. -- Gary Gover, Fairhope

Be accountable; you get what you pay for

Overview: Staffing is an issue at facilities throughout the state, some of which are nearly double their intended capacity. The department's inmate-to-security officer ratio is about 11-to-1, compared to a national average of 5-to-1. And often, Alabama violates its own law that demands female guards for female convicts. Alabama's prison spending is about about $42 per prisoner per day, in the bottom five nationally.

A lawsuit alleges that poor leadership, inadequate security and unsafe conditions have caused inmate violence to spike at St. Clair Correctional Facility. The Equal Justice Initiative filed the lawsuit on behalf of inmates at St. Clair, where six inmates have been killed in the past three years. An AL.com analysis of hundreds of personnel documents shows that the state's wardens can flout the rules, take a slap on the wrist, return to work or transfer to other prisons. In fact, some wardens were promoted to their positions even after serving suspensions as lower-ranking officers for beating inmates or covering up beatings. Prison employees frequently smuggle in drugs and sell them to inmates, the lawsuit claims. Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Kim Thomas issued a written statement calling the lawsuit "unfortunate" and pledged to improve the prison.

Ten employees made more in overtime than their base salaries from 2009 to 2014 as supervisors struggled to fill shifts amid staffing shortages. Each of the 20 employees with the highest amount of overtime made at least $28,870 in extra pay. Overtime costs in the prison system swelled the past three years as officials tried to deal with shortages caused by a hiring freeze prompted by budget cuts. "I think that's what's driving the overtime pay scale. And it's actually cheaper to use overtime than hiring a full-time employee," said state Sen. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster. "The benefits package is what kills you." The department in calendar year 2013 shelled out more than $20.8 million in overtime to 2,995 employees - about two-thirds of the total workforce. But that overtime was not distributed evenly. Although the median overtime amount was $3,754.36, 27 employees made more than 10 times that amount.

The U.S. Department of Justice has singled out the use of the lie-detector tests by Alabama prison investigators, saying that they rely heavily, and almost exclusively on them. Polygraph tests are inadmissible in criminal courts, and investigators are barred from asking sexual assault victims to take polygraph tests in 13 states including Florida, Virginia and Kansas. Additionally, the Prison Rape Elimination Act states that no prison shall require "an inmate who alleges sexual abuse to submit to a polygraph examination or other truth-telling device as a condition," for the investigation to proceed.

AL.com has learned that results from the polygraph tests, and the inmates' refusal to take them, are being used to influence the prosecution of Tutwiler's criminal cases once they reach the Elmore County grand jury. According to figures provided to AL.com by Gov. Robert Bentley's office, the DOC has referred 18 sexual misconduct cases involving 30 Tutwiler employees to the Elmore County district attorney's office for prosecution in the past five years. AL.com previously reported that criminal charges were brought against six employees, including a prison captain in charge of about 40 employees. Only two of them served time.

Data:

-- A little more than $365 million from the state's general fund was allocated to the ADOC. The ADOC spent $421 million, and the average daily per inmate cost was $41.94.

-- Alabama Correctional Industries was a revenue drain, taking a loss of $884,332.34

The David Mathews Center for Civic Life and the Alabama Media Group hosted a public forum about overcrowding in Alabama prisons December 4, 2014 at the YWCA downtown Birmingham. (Tamika Moore/tmoore@al.com) Tamika Moore | tmoore@al.com

-- You are funding people, not the process. Make sure everyone is treated the way you want to be treated. -- Melanie Baldwin, Prichard

-- Change is going to have to start at the top. I believe most of the law makers in Alabama have no or very little experience and knowledge of law. They run on platforms of so called "Christian" morals, but are willing to turn their backs on the hurting, broken and neglected. ... he travesty that has taken place at Tutwiler has been going on for decades. It is nothing new and neither is what our so-called leaders are doing about it. If you want your community to change, you change what governs your community. If all I have in a community is hopelessness, hopelessness is what I will breed. Because of a stupid mistake, you are given a felony record. You can not get a job, because they will not hire a person with a felony. What choices do you have? You have to survive. So you do what you know to do to survive. Those are the majority in our prisons. People say everybody had the ability of choice. That these people made these choices and so they must pay for them. And that is true. But the question is, what were the choices they had to choose from? -- David Angwin, Hueytown

-- Our leaders need to lead. -- Reginald Boswell, Huntsville

Take the long view and get to the root of the problem

Overview: Why are Alabama's prisons in crisis? The state has been locking up more people and giving them longer sentences than its facilities can handle safely and humanely, critics say. It's also ill-equipped to deal with a growing number of mentally ill, elderly and sick inmates that put a strain on the system. There are not enough drug and mental health treatment options in communities to provide alternatives to prison. And while new sentencing guidelines are trimming the admissions to state prisons, the system remain stubbornly overcrowded, with fewer inmates leaving because of long sentences, fewer inmates being paroled, and high recidivism rates bringing them back through a revolving door.

Forget about solving Alabama's chronic prison overcrowding by cutting loose all of the low-level drug offenders. For the most part, they are not in the penitentiary. Statistics from the Alabama Sentencing Commission show that while drug offenses do constitute the largest share of convictions -- averaging about 41.5 percent of all convictions from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2012 -- narcotics offenders often do not go to prison and do not stay long when they do. That continual churn keeps that population relatively small.

After the Legislature approved a law in 2008 allowing for the early release of prisoners who were close to death, the Alabama Department of Corrections figured there might 125 inmates who met the eligibility requirements. Since the program began in April 2009, though, only 29 inmates total have been released. State Sen. Cam Ward, who chairs the state's Prison Reform Task Force, said he believes a better approach is leasing unused government buildings and renovating them to accommodate prisoners with debilitating illnesses. "It's a lot cheaper doing it that way" and frees up prison space for other inmates, he said.

New sentencing guidelines that took effect a year ago are reducing the rate of people being sent to Alabama prisons. From Oct. 1, 2013 through June 2014, there was a 16 percent drop in sentences to state prisons, according to information presented to the Alabama Prison Reform Task Force. Prison sentences for the high volume offenses for which the guidelines apply, including drug possession, dropped by 22 percent after Oct. 1. Forty percent of admissions to state prisons are for violations of probation or parole. Probation and parole officers have caseloads of almost 200 each, making supervision difficult.

Donald Carter, the horticulture instructor at the Life Tech Transition Center in Thomasville, Ala., walks in a greenhouse at the center on Monday Dec. 15, 2014. The center is operated by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Parole and Alabama Southern Community College and trains parolees for successful reentry into the work force and helps reduce Alabama prison overcrowding. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)Sharon Steinmann

L.I.F.E. Tech Transition Center in Thomasville is Alabama's only residential program helping former inmates make the leap back in the free world. Some officials maintain that expanding or replicating the program could be one of the keys to reducing overcrowding in a prison system where occupancy is close to twice the designed capacity. But doing so would require an investment by a state government that is looking at a projected budget shortfall of at least $250 million next year. Recividism rates for those completing the program have ranged from a low of 8 percent to a high of 12 percent. That compares with 21 percent for all parolees and 32 percent for all inmates leaving prison. More than 70 percent who have completed the L.I.F.E. Tech program are working, while another 6 percent collect disability payments.

Alabama voices:

-- Pardons and parole should change out board members every five years or so. Punishment doesn't always mean incarceration ... (we need) programs to help inmates see that they can change and that they can lead productive lives, then we must be eager to assist them to do so. Better health care, better environment, better food means better inmates. Make them willing to do their best and assist the system and then go home. -- Donna Sue Banks, Notasulga

-- To relieve overcrowding, improvements must be made to the rate of recidivism. When convicts are released from prison, they are not welcomed back into society with open arms, and many ex-convicts lack basic life skills. They need to know how to budget their resources, how to balance a checkbook and how to handle a minor emergency, such as an unexpected car repair. It's unrealistic for us to assume ex-convicts will just get along. Alex Ashton, East Brewton

-- I work with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women. While I recognize the need for punishment for committed crimes, I feel the punishment is often over the top. If the courts understood the real cost to the family and community they might be willing to look at alternative sentencing. Not all cases would warrant this but many would. There should be an attempt to determine the ultimate damage to the family. Children of incarcerated women are frequently left to the community to deal with. For many of them, Mom is the only parent they have. I understand that alternative sentencing is not always an option but it should certainly be on the table whenever possible. --Mary Palo, Dothan

It appears from the statistics that the major problem is the return of former prisoners. This is the lowest hanging fruit in trying to reform the system. If each person on the study group would go out into their neighborhoods and adopt one former prisoner and try to help them re inter the society you would learn how it is almost impossible for them. They have to see probation officer regularly, they don't have transportation to go see them, or to get to jobs, they can't get hired because of their record, they can't rent a place to live because of their record, they can do anything because of their record. Finally they become so discouraged that crime and imprisonment is their best choice. I have done this and I could not believe I could not save the person, and you know what happened, they went back to prison. Try it, I think you will be surprised. -- Bob Hinshaw, Huntsville

-- Community-based facilities reduce costs and put the inmate closer to family and community ties that promote a more stable lifestyle (upon exit). -- Mark Persall, Cullman

WANT TO KNOW MORE? Visit the curated guide through this year's investigation of Alabama's prisons or see all of our stories, pictures and videos.